by Lois Richer
“I told her that you’re too far out of the way now. I’ll be coming back through Binghamton, not Albany. And she’s not happy. But business is business. You understand.”
What Jon understood was that he wasn’t worth his grandfather’s time, and Nana’s feelings weren’t worth his consideration. He swallowed the bile that rose to his throat. He really needed to reread the devotional on bitterness Brad had given him.
“I’ll give Nana a call. Maybe invite her to come and visit here for a few days. She could take the Amtrak Adirondack train.”
“Sure, you do that.” His grandfather clicked off without saying goodbye.
Jon dropped the phone receiver into the cradle and struggled to contain his anger. This was the man who used to lecture him as a kid on proper Christian behavior? How did his grandfather’s ruthless business practices escape God’s wrath, when his cousin Angie’s indiscretion hadn’t? Jon grasped the edge of the desk, squeezed hard and released his grip to tamp down his anger and try to realign himself with the more loving God he’d been working to embrace.
When it came to his family, following the Lord’s commandment to “love thy neighbor as thy self” could be extremely hard. Except for Nana and Brad. He’d enjoy having Nana come for a few days over a weekend so he could spend time with her. He picked up his cell phone and pressed her contact picture. As the phone rang, he pictured Nana and him having coffee on the patio at the duplex—with Autumn. Nana would like Autumn. His chest tightened against the hollow that opened in it. A hollow that he had no rational explanation for and no idea how to fill.
* * *
“Autumn, rate my splash,” her seven-year-old cousin, Isabella, shouted. She did a cannonball off the family dock located up the beach from the camp’s aquatics area.
“Me, too. Me, too,” Autumn’s twin siblings said as they copied Isabella.
Autumn’s aunt Jinx plopped down beside her on the blanket she’d spread on the stony beach. “It’s not enough that she’s older and bigger than the twins, she also has to come up with challenges she has to know she’ll win.”
“I wonder where she gets that from,” Autumn said. “Wait, I have this aunt who used to often set me up for—”
“Stop. That was learned behavior from your father. And I have a niece of mine who tends to do only those things she’s best at.”
A pall rolled over Autumn. Was that why she’d stopped delivering babies? Because she wasn’t perfect at it? She put her hand to her forehead as much to hide her expression as to shield the sun as she watched the kids do another round of jumps. “Guilty as charged. I’m a Hazard.”
Jinx laughed. “Something we all have to live with.” She followed Autumn’s gaze to the dock. “Where’s Ian?”
“At the library. There’s some program this week where kids can write and produce their own books. He’s going to a friend’s afterward.”
“Funny how much he’s like Anne. You wouldn’t have caught my brother inside on a day like this when he was Ian’s age, and he would have considered inside at the library a punishment.”
“Dad would still see the library as a punishment on a beautiful day like this.”
“I think it’s interesting how many of Anne’s and Neal’s traits Ian has picked up. But he was only two when her friends were killed and she and Neal adopted him.”
Autumn nodded. Anne and Dad had both readily accepted Ian as their own. “While we’re on the subject of family, what do you think of Grandpa’s idea of giving Gram a surprise birthday party?”
“Not like him at all. Anne must be behind it. She really soaks up all the family stuff. But who can blame her? Her family is so cold and distant.”
Like Jon’s, from what Autumn could tell. “Yes, the email invitations were totally Anne, right down to my ‘and guest.’”
“Isabella, give the inner tube to Sam,” Jinx shouted. “It’s his turn.” She turned back to Autumn. “Do you have someone in mind? Dr. Dreamy, by any chance?”
Autumn’s heartbeat quickened. “Not you, too?”
Jinx wrinkled her nose. “What do you mean?”
“The Dr. Jonathan Mitchell Hanlon fan club. He smiles and women swoon for miles around.”
“You have to admit that he’s easy to look at. You’re not interested, even a little?”
“There’s got to be more to a man than looks.”
“Right, like important things in common. You’re a Christian. He’s a Christian. I heard him talking to Pastor Joel about joining Hazardtown Community Church and the singles group last Sunday. You deliver babies. He delivers babies. So you’re both used to crazy work schedules.”
Except she didn’t deliver babies anymore, and she had a strong feeling Jon wouldn’t understand why not.
“Admit it,” Jinx said. “There’s a spark. I saw it Saturday and again this afternoon in the church parking lot.”
Autumn wanted to give her aunt a flat-out “no, there’s nothing between us,” except she didn’t lie. And while maybe not a spark, she did feel some connection to Jon. “We’re colleagues, possibly working on being friends. That’s all there is.”
“Come on,” her aunt prodded.
Autumn flicked a pebble off the blanket. “When we worked together at Samaritan, Jon had a reputation as a player. He dated my roommate, Kate, and dumped her for no apparent reason. Broke her heart. She really liked him.”
“That’s the Kate you used to refer to as the drama queen?”
“Yes.” Kate had been high-strung. “But she seemed truly hurt, and Jon wasted no time after the breakup before asking me out. When I said no, he moved on to another nurse. His actions upheld his reputation.”
“People change,” Jinx said, “and there are usually two sides to every story.”
Autumn stared out at the lake. Her aunt was right, but she’d need some definite sign that Jon had changed before she could even think about the possibility of them ever being anything more than friends.
Chapter Six
Yesterday’s warm sunshine had been replaced by a chilly downpour. Autumn opened the door to the birthing center and tapped her umbrella on the entryway rug before closing it. A flirty laugh drew her attention to the front desk, where Jon was lounging against the wall talking with the receptionist and a woman Autumn didn’t recognize. The woman gazed up at him with a look Autumn had seen all too often at Samaritan.
She clenched the umbrella and ducked down the hall to her office. Jon had emailed her his report on yesterday’s home visit, and she wasn’t ready to talk about it, not until she’d had time to give it a good read. She hadn’t been able to resist opening the report and skimming it at home. It had seemed surprisingly complimentary, considering the direction their conversation had been going when Jinx interrupted them.
She opened the door to the office and Kelly swooped down on her like an eagle on its prey.
“I’m glad you’re here early. I have a few things I want to go over with you before Jamie and I head over to the Donnellys’,” Kelly said. “Rachel’s in labor.”
Autumn liked Kelly well enough, aside from her propensity to be a workaholic and a little too in-charge at times. But Autumn couldn’t help wishing Kelly had already left. She’d given herself just enough time this morning to read Jon’s report, in case she ran into him later, and tackle some of the office work that was piling up again before her first appointment.
Autumn hitched her bag up on her shoulder. “What’s up?”
“I’ve hired an office assistant.”
“When?”
“Yesterday, after you’d left for the day.”
Just like that? Kelly had hired someone without even consulting her? Autumn shifted her weight. She knew Kelly was getting impatient with her not taking on any new deliveries. Maybe this was her way of telling her she wasn’t pu
lling her weight.
“I thought we were going to interview Jamie’s cousin Lexi for the job.”
“I did. Jamie gave me her résumé, and I interviewed her by phone.”
“Oh.” Kelly’s explanation didn’t make her feel any better. “When does she start?”
“That’s the best part,” Kelly said with a grin. “She already has. I told her how desperate we were, and she drove to Jamie’s from Syracuse last night and reported for work this morning. Jamie and Eli are going to help her finish clearing out her apartment in Syracuse this weekend.”
“She knows the job is only temporary?”
“Yeah. Her lease is up, and she was going to come and visit Jamie either way.”
“I should go introduce myself. Are they in the back?”
“No, Jamie took her around to meet the other staff.”
Lexi was the woman at the front desk making cow eyes at Jon. Autumn shook off the ridiculous stab of jealousy. “I think I saw her at the front desk when I came in. A tall, willowy brunette?” Who, now that she thought about it, looked a lot like her former roommate, Kate.
“That’s her.”
“I didn’t see Jamie, though.”
Kelly shrugged. “They’ll be back in a minute and I’ll introduce you. While we wait, I need to talk with you about Lisa Kent. I’ve decided to admit her to the center and induce labor. She’s a week and a half overdue and was two centimeters dilated when she came in for her appointment yesterday. I’d like you to admit her, induce labor and keep an eye on her progress.”
A chill ran through Autumn. Kelly was leaving her with a mother who would be in labor.
Kelly pursed her lips. “No need to look like a deer caught in headlights. The baby probably won’t make her appearance until sometime tomorrow. And, if she does, I have Jon on call.”
Lovely. Kelly was losing patience with her for not carrying her weight with the maternity part of the practice and, if Lisa had her baby, Jon probably would be full of questions as to why she wasn’t doing the birth. Questions she wasn’t ready to answer for him, that she didn’t even have answers to. She should be past the trauma of Suzy’s complications. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t prayed for God’s guidance to help her overcome her fear. She’d prayed hard and often.
“Sure. I plan on being here all day. I have some appointments this morning and was going to catch up on paperwork this afternoon to fill the time until my four o’clock appointment. What time did you tell Lisa to come?”
“Ten-thirty. I saw that you had a break in appointments then.”
“That’ll work.” She pushed a strand of hair that had come loose from her French braid behind her ear. “Have you talked with Jon?”
“Yes. I said we have a mother coming in for an induction and that Jamie and I are heading out for a home delivery.”
“He didn’t ask why I wasn’t covering for you?”
“No, and I didn’t tell him about your problem, if that’s your concern.”
It wasn’t a problem. It was a very real fear. But Kelly could think whatever she wanted.
“He seemed pleased that I asked. Since Dr. Ostertag didn’t take on new patients in his last months here, Jon doesn’t have many mothers who are due anytime soon.”
“Jon likes deliveries. I remember that from Samaritan. Some of the other residents did nothing but complain about being on call, especially the ones who planned to specialize in GYN surgery. Not Jon. He relished it. I think he’d have loved it if that was all he had to do.”
“How’s that?”
“He wasn’t comfortable dealing with the fathers and other family members. Or, for that matter, with the mothers. But at least with the women he could get by with his good looks and heart-melting smile.”
Kelly raised her eyebrows.
Autumn wasn’t sure if it was out of curiosity or her poor choice of words. Jon’s smile didn’t melt her heart, just seemingly every other woman’s. “I think that in his perfect world someone else would handle all the prenatal and postnatal contact. All he’d have to do is make his appearance for the birth.”
“Interesting. No bedside manner?”
Autumn thought back to the home visit yesterday. She was being a little harsh. “It’s not that he doesn’t want to relate to people, it’s more like he can’t.” She shook her head. “His care is textbook-perfect, but mechanical. Birth as a medical procedure that has to be executed perfectly.” She bit her tongue as she remembered what Jinx had said yesterday about her not doing anything she couldn’t do well.
“Hmm.” Kelly pressed her forefinger to her lips. “If Lisa’s baby does come, you’d better assist at the delivery. She needed a lot of encouragement and hand-holding with the last one. Her labor was pretty intense. He came so fast.”
“How fast?”
“A few hours after her water broke.”
“Are you setting me up?”
“What do you mean?” Kelly asked, all innocent.
Autumn tapped her umbrella on the floor. “You said you didn’t expect the baby to come until tomorrow.”
“In most cases, she wouldn’t.”
“But in this case she likely will.”
“Maybe,” Kelly huffed. “Okay. We have to work with Jon. A routine birth like Lisa’s is a good opportunity to establish a working relationship, in case one of our mothers develops prenatal complications and we have to refer her to Jon for care. You know him already. You can scope him out for us.”
Autumn relaxed.
“And, if you assist, we’ll get paid for at least part of the delivery.”
Autumn’s temper flared. “If you think I’m not doing my part, just say so.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like that. I’m a little tense about Stephanie going away to college this fall and the looming tuition payment.”
Kelly’s apology didn’t ring entirely true. Autumn knew what the practice brought in and that Kelly’s parents had set up a substantial education fund for their only granddaughter.
“That’s okay,” she ground out. “One of the things I’m going to do this afternoon is add another birth and breast-feeding class to the center’s education schedule.” Autumn bit her lip. She didn’t need to tell Kelly that as if she were validating her value to the practice.
“Good. You can explain to Lexi how to contact marketing at the medical center to get them on the schedule and publicized.”
Was that another dig?
“And here she is,” Kelly said as the office door swung open to let Jamie and Lexi in. “Lexi Zarinski. Autumn Hazard, the other third of Ticonderoga Midwifery’s staff.”
“Hi. Jamie and the kids have told me all about you. I feel like I know you already.”
“Has she also told you how glad we are you’re here? We are getting buried in paperwork.” Most of which I’ve been doing with little recognition of my effort from Kelly.
“So I’ve heard. Jamie has me set to catch up on the filing this morning.”
“Great. I’ll be in my office getting ready for appointments. Just give me a shout if you need anything.”
“Will do.”
Autumn glanced from Jamie to Kelly. “I’ll see you guys later, or tomorrow, depending on how things go.” She waited to see if Kelly was going to direct her to check in with her on Lisa.
“I’ll give you a call later if I can,” Kelly said.
Yep, to check up on her. Autumn dragged her feet to her office, mulling over what Kelly might have meant by “the other third” of the staff. Was she just making conversation or was she excluding herself from the staff and relegating Autumn to delivery nurse status with Jamie and Kristen?
* * *
“Hello again.”
Lexi looked up from her computer. “Dr. Hanlon.”
&nb
sp; “Jon,” he automatically corrected her.
“Jon,” she repeated.
“Autumn wasn’t with Mrs. Kent in the birthing suite. Is she here in her office?”
“Yes. She stopped back because she had an appointment scheduled. Do you want me to get her?”
“Autumn’s with the patient?”
“No, she’s alone. She caught the woman before she’d left home and rescheduled the appointment.” Lexi started to rise from her seat.
“Don’t get up. I’ll go back.” He didn’t know what it was about Lexi. He didn’t know her, but there was something off-putting about the woman.
He knocked on Autumn’s half-closed door.
“Come on in, Lexi. We’re not formal around here.”
“I’m not Lexi.”
Autumn started. “Jon.”
“Hi. Lexi told me you were done with your appointments for the day. I am, too, and I thought we should go check on Mrs. Kent’s progress.”
Autumn wrinkled her forehead. “Oh, you mean Lisa. As I said, we’re not formal here.”
He hadn’t noted the patient’s first name when he’d brought up the computer records to familiarize himself with the case. “Kelly had said you were going to break Mrs. Kent’s—Lisa’s—water to induce labor, but I saw you didn’t.”
“Lisa went into labor on her own early this morning, so I decided not to. The less interference, the better.”
Jon nodded. “Of course,” he agreed. He wasn’t in the habit of inducing labor, either, unless medically necessary.
Autumn’s desk phone buzzed, wiping the surprised look off her face.
“Excuse me.” She turned sideways to take the call, and he studied the way her hair crisscrossed in a long braid falling down her back. He definitely preferred her hair long to the spiky way she’d had it at Samaritan.
She hung up. “Your timing is perfect. That was Kristen, our other delivery nurse. Lisa is seven centimeters dilated. We’re going to have a baby.”
Her words shot through him like a jolt of electricity jump-starting a car battery and he recalled the awe and joy on Autumn’s face during the births they’d done together at Samaritan. When she’d said she was concentrating on other aspects of the practice, rather than delivering babies, he’d thought that delight must have worn off for her. But her wide grin said his assumption was off base.
